August 28, 2025: Living Out Our Baptism

Three heresies, false beliefs, too often found in the Church today:

Heresy 1. You are OK the way you are—"I was born a child of God and have no need of a Savior.” No, that birthright was discarded in the garden, and only through Jesus Christ can we be adopted as Children of God.

Heresy 2. You may be holy by your own efforts— this is the error of Pelagius. Without Christ, we will continue to do the very things we hate. Sin not only entices, sin enslaves. The Apostle Paul desired to be holy but found sin had enslaved him. He asked: “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! …” (Romans 7:24–25, NASB 2020)

Heresy 3. Jesus came to save you in the end times, but I need not change now—"Jesus is my Savior, so I can now live as I always have without judgment.” This is the antinomian heresy. Jesus warned:

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; LEAVE ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ Matthew 7:21–23 (NASB 2020)

Jesus came to change your life in the present and for eternity! Jesus entered into creation to usher in His kingdom. The Church is the foretaste of that kingdom, bearing witness to the reign of God on earth. Jesus' earthly ministry changed the lives of lepers, the blind, and the demon-possessed in both their moment in time and for eternity. He brings to every Christian emancipation from sin’s slavery. Grace justifies us and grace sanctifies us. Baptism is a life-changing act from our Lord, bestowing new life. Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth: “But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NASB 2020)

Four great truths about God’s grace:

• Before we knew our Lord, in His prevenient grace, He loved us and sought us out for salvation.

• We are justified by grace, not of ourselves. We joyously receive grace as His gift to us.

• Grace acts to sanctify us, making us more and more in the likeness of our Lord.

• One day, we will be glorified by Him through the same grace.